The National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) often earns the nickname “the Christmas Tree bill,” not only because it tends to act as a catch-all for a variety of unrelated pet project amendments, but also because, like the holiday, its passage usually comes in late December. However, this year’s NDAA bill is poised to pass both chambers before the August recess. The House and Senate Armed Services [...]

Today Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy (D) has signed legislation in law, Act 15-142, that will make numerous changes to its existing breach of security law. Connecticut’s law will not only expand its current definition of personal information to include biometric data such as fingerprint, voice print, and a retina or iris image; but it will also require new data breach security terms and conditions [...]

Gov. Kate Brown of Oregon is expected to soon sign HB 2375, legislation that requires greater discipline by state officials and contracting agencies in the development of solicitation documents, specifically contract forms and contract templates. Under the measure, agencies “may not vary the terms and conditions without the advice of the Attorney General or legal counsel that the Attorney General approves [...]

The U.S. House of Representatives has approved H.R. 805, the DOTCOM Act. The bipartisan compromise provides clear congressional direction to the considerable efforts being undertaken by the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) to ensure a responsible, principled transfer of the stewardship of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) functions [...]

A major Texas procurement law has raised concerns among information technology (IT) companies that contract with the state. Among the numerous bills debated in the 84th Texas legislative session that focused on state contracting reform, Senate Bill 20 garnered both chambers’ approval. The bill signed by Gov. Greg Abbott on June 4 will put procurement reforms into law that follow earlier administration [...]

Last week was disconcerting for those that provide cloud-computing services to the federal government, as it appeared that the federal government is reversing course on all the work to date on the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP). While this change is very concerning and confusing to ITAPS member companies, we are optimistic that the government will straighten this out as [...]

The Internet of Things (IoT) is an amazing new revolution in technology that connects everyday objects that are not traditionally connected to the internet. This week, ITI’s Dean Garfield emceed a great @Microsoft conversation entitled “Powering 21st Century Cities with the Internet of Things.” The panel discussed how IoT presents an immense opportunity to transform the ability of cities to offer new [...]

Earlier today, ITI testified at the House Energy and Power Subcommittee Hearing on “Strategic Petroleum Reserve Discussion Draft and Title IV Energy Efficiency.” Rona Newmark of EMC Corp served as our expert witness. ITI’s testimony focused on urging rapid enactment of the “Energy Efficient Government Technology Act" (EEGTA). EEGTA would increase productive federal government use of energy-efficient [...]

This week the House of Representatives will consider two cybersecurity threat information sharing bills on the floor: the Protecting Cyber Networks Act (H.R. 1560), and the National Cybersecurity Protection Advancement Act (H.R. 1731). We commend the House for its action in this area, and ITI will consider scoring votes in support of both bills in our 114th Congressional Voting Guide. As the leading [...]

California legislators are examining the state’s track record in implementing large information technology (IT) projects, some of which have been plagued with significant problems, following a state audit report evaluating the California Department of Technology’s (CalTech) oversight role over large information technology (IT) projects. Hopefully, this will be a springboard for Sacramento to address [...]